When Can Teacher Negligence Cause a Student Injury?

When does a teacher’s duty of care begin and end?

Under usual circumstances, this duty begins at the start of the school day and ends when children leave the school premises to return home. If a child has been asked or ordered to remain in the school building or on school grounds after regular school hours, however, the duty of care continues on the part of the teacher or other supervisor who asked the child to stay, as long as the child remains on school property. In some cases, this duty may even continue after a child has left school grounds. If, for example, a teacher has asked a student to remain after school until late in the evening or after dark and the teacher knows or reasonably should have known that the child will be unsupervised while on his or her way home, the teacher may be found to have breached the duty of care owed to the child by creating a situation that resulted in the child’s returning home without adequate protection for the child’s safety.

What are examples of teacher negligence?

A teacher’s duty of care may be breached in many ways. If a teacher fails to properly supervise the children under her charge and a child is injured as a result of the intentional or negligent act of another student, or even an outsider whose presence in the school should not have been allowed, the teacher may be found to have breached his or her duty of care toward the injured child and may be held liable for the damages suffered by the child as a result. When teachers arrange classroom activities that pose a threat of injury to students unless an appropriate level of care is taken and proper instructions are provided, the teacher may be found to have breached the duty of care owed to a student who is injured as a result of such inadequate care and proper instruction.

What kinds of school injuries lead to teacher negligence concerns?

Children get hurt at school in many ways, and most are minor. The situations that most often raise supervision questions include roughhousing or fights that no adult stopped, science lab and art room accidents involving chemicals, heat or sharp tools, falls in hallways or classrooms, injuries on field trips, accidents at recess and during dismissal, and reactions to allergens that were not managed. They also include bullying that was reported but not addressed and injuries to students with special needs who were left without the support their plan required. Our pages on failure to supervise, playground injuries, gym class injuries and school bus accidents cover specific settings.

What is the proof required in a teacher negligence case?

A teacher’s breach of the duty of care, alone, will not suffice to establish liability on the part of the teacher. In order to recover damages in a negligence action against a teacher for injuries sustained by a child while at school, the plaintiff must prove that it is more likely than not that the teacher’s breach of duty (negligence) was a cause of the child’s injury and that the child’s injury would not have occurred in the absence of the teacher’s negligence. Proof of causation may be quite complex when more than one action, omission or event constituted a cause of a plaintiff’s injuries.